Governor Philip E. Batt – In Other Words
Batt’s transportation bona fides are unquestioned in Idaho. In his career as a legislator and governor, he helped push through some of the most important and politically risky transportation laws in decades. Jim Kempton, an Idaho Transportation Department board member and former legislator, credited him with helping with the passage of a bill that relaxed restrictions on heavy truckloads.
“He knew that if you can’t get goods to the market and people to the marketplace, you won’t have a successful economy,” said Darrell Manning, a former ITD director and board chairman.
It was also during Batt’s tenure as governor that the state passed its last gas tax increase, a measure Otter has tried and failed to duplicate. If gas tax had kept pace with the price of gas since the last increase, Batt said, it would now be about three times its current level of 25 cents per gallon.
— Idaho Statesman
Numerous speakers lauded Batt, whose accomplishments over his career included major transportation upgrades for the state, the Idaho Human Rights Act, securing long-sought workers’ compensation for agricultural workers, signing a nuclear waste agreement with the federal government requiring waste to be removed from the state, and much more.
Said Sen. Patti Anne Lodge, “Gov. Batt will always be remembered for doing the right thing, even if it’s not popular at the time.”
Idaho’s congressional delegation, in a letter read at the ceremony, called Batt “a true innovator in fiscal matters, infrastructure and overall leadership.”
Gov. Butch Otter said to laughter, “I couldn’t say enough about Phil, and I’d spend a lot more time than the few minutes that he ever allowed me as his lieutenant governor.”
The ITD headquarters on State Street is now officially emblazoned, “State of Idaho, Transportation Department, Philip E. Batt Building.”
— The Spokesman Review, Spokane, Wash.
The naming ceremony in Boise drew a good portion of high-ranking political officials in the state from past and present, including Gov. Butch Otter and former Gov. Cecil Andrus.
But Batt was the star of the moment …
Sen. Patti Anne Lodge called Batt a Canyon County icon. A slew of speakers underscored Batt’s legend with story after story of his pragmatic approach to public service and refusal to put up with anything he saw as nonsense …
Ever the persuader, Batt spoke at length about the state’s need to raise user fees to improve and maintain roads, highways and bridges. He served on the ITD board from 1988 to 1991 and oversaw many improvements in Idaho transportation …
The song, the building and the day belonged to Gov. Philip E. Batt.
— Idaho Press Tribune
Published 6-14-13